The Future of the Forest
by moviefan-92
Summary: Crysta receives word that Zak has returned with a group of people to help preserve the rainforest. Crysta rushes over to secretly watch him work while reflecting on their past together and her hopes for the future of the rainforest. COMPLETE


**(A/N: Ok, so, this came out of nowhere. I ended up watching **_Ferngully_**, one of my favorites as a kid that I haven't seen for years. And I gotta say, you end up noticing a whole lot more after you've grown up than you do when you're a kid. And I'm not talking about the "save the world" message the movie conveyed, but other things that kids wouldn't pick up on. This included a certain scene where… Ah, I can't say anything without spoiling it. So here's a short one-shot that came to me after watching a childhood classic. Enjoy.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**"THE FUTURE OF THE FOREST"**

He was here! He had returned once again. The trees had whispered to her of his arrival, and she quickly raced through the forest to where they said he was. It had been months since the last time he had come, and her little heart beat rapidly in her chest at the thought of seeing him again.

To anyone not magically blessed with the gift of fairy sight, she would have appeared as nothing more than a flickering cyan light flying through the air, likely dismissed as some sort of firefly. But to anyone born with or granted with the gift was able to see her beyond the veil of magic that surrounded her.

One such individual hung by a tree she flew past, and he poked his head out from his leathery wings he had wrapped around himself and called out to her. "Hey, where are you going?"

She ignored the fruit bat. She knew how Batty Koda felt about humans anyway. His opinion of them had improved over time, and he no longer viewed them all as evil and cruel, but he was still resentful and fearful of them in general. And with the horrible experiments done to him by humans in the past, it was easy to understand why.

But that wasn't the real reason she didn't stop for her friend. The simple truth was that she didn't want to wait for him since she was a much faster flier, and was eager to reach her destination as quickly as possible. Even the magic tree that imprisoned Hexxus, the evil spirit of pollution and destruction, barely registered to her as she whizzed by in a blur of bright blue light.

The borders of the magical part of the rainforest, known as Ferngully, ended, the plants and trees having long since magically grown back since they had been cut down by the leveler all those years ago. Fortunately, Ferngully was no longer under any threat of being destroyed by humans, the land now labeled as a permanently protected area. She had _him_ to thank for that as well, knowing that the part of the rainforest that was Ferngully had been the first thing he had set out to get protected.

But not all of the rainforest was safe from human destruction. That was why he had returned, to stop other areas from being cut down for more human development and help preserve what was still there, just as he had several other times since his adventures in Ferngully.

Coming to the spot the trees had spoke of, she took up a suitable hiding spot where she was unlikely to be seen and let her light dim down so as not to be noticed. Using a bit of magic to command the trees an leaves to wrap around her to further hide her from view, she poked her head out from behind a leaf and looked at the scene below.

Crysta had changed in many ways since she had met Zak Young. Though her appearance was still mostly the same, she now had mature features; those of a full-grown woman as opposed to the more girlishness of her teenage years from when they first met. But as Magi's successor as the Sprite of the Forest, she would live far longer than any other creature, human or fairy alike, her aging all but brought to a stop thanks to her unique brand of magic since she acted as the forest's protector.

Zak had changed as well. Over the years, the last traces of boyhood had vanished to reveal a mature young man. An approving smile spread across Crysta's face as her green eyes drank in the sight of him as he and his team worked.

True, to his word, Zak had done exactly as he said he would; protect the rainforest from humans who wanted to knock it down in order to expand and develop. A conservationist, she believed it was called, having heard the word spoken by other humans who took up the same cause.

His first and foremost goal had been to, at the very least, keep Ferngully safe, which he had been successful at. And once the area was labeled as protected, especially Hexxus' tree, he began to find other areas to be protected. Surprisingly, he had even managed to get his two supervisors, Tom and Ralph, to have a change of heart about tearing down trees. Although, the two of them getting scared half to death by Hexxus probably had a big hand in that as well, as did watching a tree grow instantly by magic.

Zak wasn't the only human friend of Crysta's that was present either. A now teenage Budgie had also taken up volunteering to help protect and preserve the forest, and was currently helping Zak and the other humans trying to keep the environment safe. Crysta was tempted to go down there and reunite with the two of them, but knew that she couldn't, not with all those other humans around. And just like she had several other times in the past, she contemplated going to at least see Zak when he was alone, but once again dismissed the thought. It had been too long, and there was too much left unsaid between them. It would only complicate things and make them more confusing for them.

Suddenly, he looked up from what he was doing and glanced in her direction. Crysta's heart jumped in her chest, and she kept absolutely still. Had he somehow sensed her presence or felt that she was watching him? It wouldn't be the first time he seemed to feel that she was nearby whenever she secretly watched him. Was it because she had shared her magic with him? He had seemed to develop a closer connection to nature similar to what fairies had after she had done so.

It wasn't her magic alone that Zak had been touched by. After Magi had sacrificed her life to share her magic with the other fairies so they could all protect Ferngully from Hexxus, he had been blessed with some as well. It would serve him well in his attempts to protect the forest, and it seemed he had put it to good use. He really was like the humans from the old legends who helped the fairies to make the forest thrive.

A sigh escaped Crysta as she thought back to the few short days they had spent together and the feelings that had developed between them. It had been heartbreaking for them both to part, but they both knew that they each had important roles to play; her as the Sprite of the Forest, and him to make sure humans didn't cause harm with their ignorance and greed.

Now all they mostly had left were their memories of their time together. The one that stood out the most was their time together in the cave when she shared her magic with him. And then he had kissed her. She had been startled when he did that at first, but then…

Crysta felt her cheeks heat up at the memory, and not for the first time, she wondered what could have become of the two of them had Hexxus and the humans inside the tree-eating machine monster called the leveler not come to Ferngully, forcing them to fight back and then eventually take the roles they now both currently played in their worlds. Maybe Zak would have stayed. Maybe they could have…

She shook her head. There was no point in dwelling on what-ifs. What had happened had happened, and that was that.

He was still looking in her direction, a look of concentration on his face. Then he smiled and waved before going back to work. Crysta smiled as well. She knew he hadn't seen her, she was too well hidden, but he must have somehow realized that she was out here and watching him. And even though he couldn't see it, she waved back.

"Mother!"

Jumping in surprise, Crysta turned around as another fairy, this one a small child, came flying up to her, a stream of magic the same cyan color as her own streaming out behind her as she flew.

Crysta placed a finger to her lips as the little girl approached. "Magi, shh. We don't want to draw attention."

The little fairy came to a stop in front of her. "I heard from Uncle Pips that there were humans and figured that you would probably go to see them."

Crysta smiled at her daughter. With her being so busy as the Sprite of the Forest, she often relied on Pips to babysit. True, he wasn't really Magi's uncle, but he was called that as a term of endearment, and also because he was Crysta's best and oldest friend.

"And I'll bet you snuck away when he wasn't looking," she said with a knowing look in her eyes.

"The Beetle Boys helped," Magi admitted with a smile, and landed on the branch to peak behind the leaves at the humans down below. "I wanted to see the humans; no one ever lets me."

Crysta frowned slightly. "That's because we don't always know if they're the kind who want to protect the forest or destroy it."

Confusion mixed with annoyance crossed her daughter's face. "Why would any humans want to destroy the forest? That's just stupid."

A sorrowful sigh escaped Crysta. "I really don't know, sweetie."

That wasn't exactly true. From what she had learned of humans over the years, after Hexxus first appeared and nearly drove them all to extinction, and the surviving humans had fled from the forest, they had been forced to find other ways to survive, and so had turned to what they called technology, which, unfortunately, tended to have a negative affect on the environment, if not outright destroying it. And after relying on it for so long, most humans didn't know how else to survive. There were those that saw the folly in this and tried to find other ways to live and protect the environment, but it was a slow process, and they were, sadly, outnumbered by the more ignorant ones.

But from what else she had learned about humans, more and more were becoming aware of the harm they were doing and taking on more active roles to protect and preserve nature. That was good, and Crysta hoped more became aware of the situation and decided to help out.

"I'm just glad there are still some that remember the ancient ways and protect nature," Magi continued.

Crysta nodded in agreement. "So am I, sweetheart."

With wide eyes, Magi surveyed the humans below. "So those are humans. They're the good ones, right?"

Chuckling, Crysta nodded. "Yes, they're the good ones. See how they're helping the plants however they can and replanting trees."

"Is one of them your human friend? You know, the one that helped you fight Hexxus?"

The smile on Crysta's face became slightly sad, but she hid it well as she placed an arm around her daughter and pointed. "Yes, he's that one right there. The blonde one. See him? His name's Zak."

Magi's eyes lit up as she saw him. "Hey, he has tan skin like me!"

Crysta unconsciously held the girl closer. It was a trait that all fairies were fair-skinned. All expect her daughter. "Yes, Magi, just like you."

She looked at her daughter's other features. Magi had the same black hair as her, but it was less spiky and hung freely about her head, and they also shared the same bright green eyes. Her daughter's ears, however, were shorter and less pointy than other fairies, and her wings were also smaller and shorter as well, making it a little harder for her to fly than other fairies.

Magi was still very young, and hadn't yet questioned why her ears and wings were shorter and smaller than other fairies, or why her skin color was different. Nor did she question who her father was or where he was. Crysta hoped she wouldn't question it until she was older and could understand better.

It was a beautiful story that Crysta would love to share with her one day, but not while she was still so young. After Zak had kissed her that day in the cave, things had simply… progressed from there. The atmosphere was magical, the mood romantic, and both she and Zak were young and feeling something special for the person in front of them.

Things had happened after that, and little Magi was the result. Crysta hadn't even known that such a union was possible, but it seemed that the former wise and mighty Sprite of the Forest for whom Magi was named after was right, there had been many things about nature that Crysta hadn't known about back then. All the same, Crysta loved the result of the union very dearly, and would never trade her for anything.

It didn't matter to Crysta that her daughter was half human. On the contrary, she chose to view her as a sign, a sign that humans and fairies would come together once more and help bring forth a new and better world, just like the ones from ancient times before Hexxus appeared.

It would be a long and hard journey, and it would take time, especially after all the damage to the planet that had been caused by the humans, but just as the forces of nature could bring forth a new forest after facing devastating destruction, then perhaps humans could also reconnect and rebuild a new relationship with nature and fairy-kind the way their ancestors did, and an even better world could come of it. Young Magi was already proof that that was indeed possible, in more ways than one.

"Hey, Mom," Magi asked eagerly, "do you think that one day I could meet a human?"

A feeling of longing, both for herself and for her daughter, caused Crysta's heart to clench. "I don't know, sweetheart. Perhaps some day."

Magi's face lit up. "Really? That would be amazing! Maybe you can even introduce me to your human friend."

A smile made its way up Crysta's face at those words. "Maybe, Magi," she said as she looked back down at the humans with hope. "Maybe."

**THE END**

**(A/N: So, yeah, like I said, I watched the movie again after several years and this happened. You know how plot bunnies are. I really did ship Crysta and Zak together, and that scene where they're in the cave together did leave things pretty open ended to imagine what after the scene faded away to the next. The two share a pretty romantic and intimate moment together, and Crysta sharing her magic with him seemed pretty personal as well, which was followed by Zak kissing her. The scene pretty much just fades to them outside the cave, where they both acted pretty shy and cutesy around each other. Yeah, sure, it could have been just because of the kiss, but it's really not too hard to image that something more happened. In fact, I'd say it's more than likely, especially based on Crysta's behavior. After noticing that, this little baby was born. Hehe, baby was born. Innuendos. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little one-shot, as short as it was. Peace out.)**


End file.
